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The problem I have with the direction this administration has always
led us in their eight years, (seven of which I've just held on for the
ride), in office is that they are borrowing against our future.
As we plunge further and further into debt more and more of those loans are coming due.
Take for example the sub-prime mortgage crises.
Now
granted, that particular problem isn't squarely on the shoulders of
this administration, but the problem came to a head during their watch
so it is likely that it will go down in history as "their doing."
Now
that major lenders are filing for bankruptcy protection, and the
legislature is attempting to rectify the problem, the impact of the
decisions by people whose only interest was in turning a quick buck (if
you notice they've fled that bandwagon faster than a Viking fan fleeing
the "playoff" discussion), is beginning to have an impact on our
economy.
In this global economy it is now apparent that we are all connected.
And
as such, those individuals who attempted to lend to "sub" prime
individuals with more risk associated to that borrowing, the blame is
not that of the borrower, but on the lender who had to see this fork in
the road coming.
It is the lenders who are paid to fully
understand the lending and the practice of lending to individuals,
often who weren't able to make the payments they borrowed almost from
the start, much less when the "floating" interest rate began to float
just above the reach of their monthly income.
Now we have
deflated home values across the board (and across the nation). Our
"consumer confidence" the indicator the "experts" use to determine the
collective pulse of the nation, is wavering at best.
I for one,
having just spent the budget of a small country on my children for
Christmas, have now hunkered down in "January pay-off mode," angling to
get out from under our Christmas debt as fast as possible.
Once free, the plan is to sock away a little bit of money for the impending doom that the experts are saying is coming.
My
share of the National Debt is $29,229.21. Of course that number
represents every man, woman and child in the United States and is only
growing by the minute. (That figure is, of course, as of the writing of
this column).
So as we go further into debt to fix someone else's
country, I hope we each take a moment during the coming year to think
about what it is going to take to become debt free again as a nation.
On
a much larger scale, and with the fate of a nation at stake, China is
lending to this "sub-prime" nation of ours knowing our track record is
less than stellar when it comes to financial responsibility.
When
China decides to collect those debts, however, we may not be so
fortunate to have a legislative body within their country so willing to
help out the financially irresponsible.
When you go to the polls this election year, remember what's at stake.
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